I came to UMSL from the University of Southern California in 1999. I am originally from western Kentucky and my husband (also an Accounting Professor here at UMSL) is from St. Louis so the decision to move from LA to St. Louis was an easy one. I have an undergraduate degree from University of Kentucky along with a PhD from Indiana University and I spent several years working in Public Accounting and in private industry before I started the PhD program. As an associate professor my time is split between teaching, research, and service. My teaching is evenly divided between upper level undergraduate accounting courses and graduate courses. Most of my research is in the areas of financial reporting and accounting history. I am involved in a variety of COBA, campus, and university administrative activities such as planning for our new COBA building, providing input into campus building and physical facilities issues, and helping to mentor faculty who are new to UMSL.